20 months jail for taking elderly man’s (77) car from complex

A MAN who took an elderly man’s car from an apartment complex car park, before causing over €20,000 worth of damage to the car park’s gates while trying to leave has been jailed for 20 months, reports David O’Sullivan.

Max Corcoran (21), of Laraghcon, Lucan, County Dublin appeared before Judge Martin Nolan in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Thursday after pleading guilty to taking possession of a motor powered vehicle without consent of its owner and criminal damage on February 6, 2023.

An investigating garda told David Perry BL, prosecuting, that Corcoran and a co-accused took the injured party’s car from him before causing tens of thousands euro worth of damage and burning the car out.

The then 77-year-old man drove into the underground parking area of his apartment complex.

He parked his car and was listening to a true crime story on the radio.

The car door was then pulled open and the man heard shouts of “get out of the car” and “do you want to get stabbed?”

He got out of the car.

The co-accused hit then him in the jaw, taking his car keys and mobile phone.

The victim ran away and managed to get into the stairwell of the building where he called emergency services.

The court heard Corcoran stood nearby and did not make an attempt to intervene or stop what the second man was doing.

The two men got into the injured party’s car with Corcoran sitting in the passenger seat.

They approached the car park gate but were unable to open them.

They then reversed the car into the gates in order to smash them open.

The gates were destroyed and needed to be replaced at a cost of €24,536.

The injured party’s car was later found burnt out at a different location in Dublin.

It was valued at over €40,000.

CCTV footage was used to identify Corcoran.

A victim impact statement handed in to the court said the injured party had been reimbursed for most of the value of the car through his insurance.

Garret Baker SC, defending, said his client “quite literally went along for the ride.”

He said Corcoran was a passenger in the car, didn’t strike the injured party and stood back during the incident.

“He’s still a young man and he was an even younger man at the time of the offence,” said Mr Baker, adding that drug addiction had been a big factor in Corcoran’s life at the time.

Corcoran has 14 previous convictions, including for assault causing harm, threats to kill, road traffic offences and public order.

In sentencing, Judge Nolan said Corcoran was very young when he committed this offence and that “the courts always hope for rehabilitation”.

He said mitigating factors included Corcoran’s plea of guilty, his cooperation with gardai and his expression of remorse.

Judge Nolan also noted Corcoran’s level of involvement in the incident.

“He seems to be an intelligent man and hopefully things can improve for him,” said the judge, before sentencing Corcoran to 20 months imprisonment.

The sentence was backdated to when Corcoran went into custody on March 7, 2023.